Do You Believe?

Hello all. Today I felt led to share one of the entries from my 30-day devotional, If These Shoes Could Talk. All I will say is, “God is still in the miracle working business.”

Swish. Swish. My windshield wipers did nothing to swipe away the blinding rain as it pounded my windshield. Rain fell in sheets and seemed to blow sideways from every direction. It was almost too dangerous to trudge forward, but likewise too dangerous to pull over to the side of the road in some areas. The shoulder wasn’t wide enough for me to take refuge safely until the storm subsided.

Unfortunately, I was traveling alone and wished I’d taken my husband’s advice to heart when he suggested I always take a friend on road trips when he wasn’t available to go with me. Before, I wasn’t worried about having a passenger around for the two-hour ride. I’d packed my books in the trunk and set off to attend worship service followed by a discussion with one of my favorite book clubs. Now I was praying I’d get there. Visibility was nearly zero. If I couldn’t see other people, it meant they couldn’t see me either.

I gripped the steering wheel to keep the car from skidding into the other lanes. The wind was pushing it around like a matchbox car, and it didn’t help that 18-wheeler trucks were speeding past me like the road was dry as desert sand. I finally saw a green highway sign indicating that the next exit was two miles away. Then….

Then the car began to wobble to one side. It shook violently and I could tell that the front right tire had blown out. There was no way I could travel two miles on three tires and a rim, so I had no choice but to ease onto the shoulder of the road.

After a frantic call to my husband, I contacted my insurance company’s roadside assistance. I was stuck in the middle of nowhere in a storm, and told it would be at least an hour and a half before help arrived. Not only would I be late for my event, but I was in a hazardous location. I anxiously watched in the rearview mirror, praying that a car didn’t careen in my direction because of the slick highway.

“God, let the rain subside,” I prayed, “and keep me out of the way of danger. Send somebody to change my tire soon.”

My husband called to check on me about ten minutes later, and since the rain was starting to let up, he suggested I venture out and take a quick look at the tire. When the coast was completely clear, I stepped out of the car and into a puddle. Now I had soggy pantyhose and a shoe full of rainwater! I squished onto the soggy grass and looked at the tire. The perfectly inflated tire.

I stooped to examine it from every angle. I’d experience a completely flat tire before, so I knew the scraping sound and the lumpy roll of a tire gone bad. I’d heard it earlier. Felt it. Bumped and clumped to the side of the road. Astonished, I walked around the circumference of the car, kicking at each tire like I was a qualified repair technician. Four, round, inflated tires. My husband was as dumbfounded as I was. Although he didn’t admit it, he may have internally questioned whether it was ever flat in the first place. But I had no doubt about two things. The tire was flat. And I’d been the recipient of a miracle.

Sure, I’ve read about miracles in the Bible. We all have. The Red Sea divided (Exodus 14), Daniel was unharmed in the lion’s den (Daniel 6), Jesus turned water into wine (John 2), Lazarus was raised from the dead (John 11), the walls of Jericho tumbled down (Joshua 6) and not only did the widow of Zarephath’s have her meal and oil increased but her son was raised from the dead (I Kings 17).

On one Sunday morning, God performed a miracle just for me. He’s never limited by time, atmosphere, or our senses. It doesn’t matter if you’re in Jerusalem or stranded on Interstate 20-East. God does miracles even now.

Do you believe?